


Written in the Wind

by Bonfoi



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Community: lupin_snape, HP: EWE, M/M, Marauders' Era, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-04
Updated: 2012-04-04
Packaged: 2017-11-03 00:50:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/375233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bonfoi/pseuds/Bonfoi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The note appealed to Severus.  Then he found who he thought had sent it…and nothing would ever be the same again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Written in the Wind

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Azure_rosa](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Azure_rosa).



> I misread something and then got told by Snapealina that I should write, on-demand. Thus, this came out within 1.5 hours. A bit of SPAG editing done the day after, when I didn’t have such teary-eyes. 
> 
>  
> 
> **From Azurerosa in chat, written upon demand:**
> 
>  
> 
> S gets an anonymous love note and assumes R is pranking him. S decides acting like he fell for it would be much more fun so he goes to R's rooms and proceeds to flirt outrageously with him. 
> 
> R has crush on S so he responds positively to S which in turn confuses S.  
> Ending of your choice and feel free to bend, twist or contort the idea any way you wish!

_The parchment was torn, the writing juvenile, and Severus was entranced for a moment._

§¤§¤*§*¤§¤§ 

**_ Disclaimer:_** The world of Harry Potter, its characters and settings are the copyrighted works of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., her publishing companies and affiliates. No profit was made from the writing of this story nor was any malice intended in any way, shape or form to the author or the actors/actresses who so brilliantly have brought them to life. 

This author is not responsible for underage readers. Please observe the ratings, warnings, and age of legal consent for your country.

§¤§¤*§*¤§¤§ 

**Marauder’s Era…**

 

Severus tossed down the torn piece of parchment and then scooped it back up, smoothing out the creased his tight hold had put in it. “It has to be _him!_ He’s the only one who knows me so well,” he muttered under his breath.

“What do you have there, Snape?” Evan Rosier leaned around Severus, snatching at the parchment until Severus elbowed him. “Oof! Not Quidditch, Snape!” He stepped away, his arm around his ribs. “Keep your damned love note, then!” He stormed off, belatedly realizing that Severus hadn’t used a wand to move the note.

“Don’t turn around, Rosier! You know I know more Dark Curses than you’ll ever learn,” Severus said in a low, carrying tone. Rosier hurried around the corner and far, far away from Severus.

Pushing his lank hair from his forehead, Severus leaned his back against the cool dungeon wall. “Not _him_ then…” He pulled as his bottom lip. “Then who?”

+*+*+*~~~*+*+*+

“Did you send it?” A voice hissed. Severus stopped in an instant and slid next to the wall.

Another voice, hushed as well, answered. “Shh! Yes, yes! Now go bother James!”

A low _evil_ chuckle and Severus knew one of the voices. _Black!_ So that meant the other had to be…

“Ah, Moony, don’t go on that way!” Black whined. “Just wanted to make sure is all.”

“I said ‘go bother James’, Sirius, and I meant it!” _The damned jelly-boned Prefect from Gryffindor…Loopy Lupin!_ Severus seething silently, listening for footsteps, or anything else.

“Fine, fine, just don’t be late! I can’t wait to see his face!” Scuffing footsteps came to his ears and Severus could picture Black’s insouciant stride as he left Lupin alone.

Rolling away from the corner, Severus ground his teeth. _Lupin does_ **know** _me! The note had to be another prank-in-the-making!_ His thoughts raced. _He’ll rue playing with me like this!_ The twisting of Severus’ lips as he thought about how to make Remus Lupin pay would never, ever be called a smile or even a smirk, it was just too hideous.

+*+*+*~~~*+*+*+

Severus pushed Rosier away with a flick of his wand. Dueling Class was getting tedious ever since they had to fight only within their House groups.

“Class, your attention, please!” The professor clapped her hands and winced as the newly-regrown one listed to the side. “Headmaster Dumbledore has asked for the best two students in each House to participate in a demonstration for the visiting Governors. Snape, Mulciber for Slytherin. Potter, Lupin for Gryffindor…”

Severus rocked on his heels and rolled his wand between his fingers. _A chance to make the loopy lion pay, eh?_ He smirked and several of his classmates stepped closer to the door.

+*+*+*~~~*+*+*+

Severus stood over Lupin, his hand out only because the Hogwarts Governors and the Headmaster were looking on…and the damned idiot had beaten Severus soundly, three duels out of four. It wasn’t his fault that Mulciber had shot a slipping hex just as the not-so-toothless lion had stepped forward to shake hands.

“Oh, give me your hand, Lupin!” he ordered. Lupin’s gentle, _loopy_ smile never wavered as he reached up and…

_Warmth! Like the sun through the library windows!_ It flowed up Severus’ arm and he almost didn’t let go as Lupin finally stood on his own two feet. Severus’ fingers tingled as he tamped down the niggling _good_ feeling.

Headmaster Dumbledore stood clapping. “Well done, boys, well done! I haven’t seen such dexterity since the Olympics of ’36. I look forward to more exhibitions of your prowess.” The Governors nodded and clapped as well, only one of them with narrowed eyes and tightly pursed mouth at the showing of a half-blood.

+*+*+*~~~*+*+*+

“I got your note, Lupin,” Severus said from the side of his mouth as the students filed out of the dueling exhibition.

“What note, Snape?” Lupin’s voice was soft. _Like the flannel sheets Mum sent before she died_. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.” Lupin shoulders shook slightly, the only indication he was frightened of something. “Good show, Snape.” Lupin was gone in ten steps and Severus was left wondering what the hell had just happened.

He found himself in a quiet niche near the Infirmary and pulled out the note, rereading it once more. Severus slid down the wall and sprawled at his ease as he looked at the torn parchment more critically. “First, old parchment. Second, juvenile handwriting. Third, no magical signature. Fourth….” He closed his eyes and concentrated on Lupin: his musky, wild scent; the way his hair waved, fighting the pomade all of them wore; the slight smile that lurked in his soft brown eyes.

Severus’ eyes popped open. “He writes with his left hand, but used his wand in his right!” he hissed out. “Ambidextrous.” Shaking his head at the fact he really knew nothing new, Severus jumped to his feet and continued to the Infirmary.

+*+*+*~~~*+*+*+

Lupin sat in the midst of all the roaring lions, a quiet feline in the midst of that zoo. Or at least that’s what it seemed like to Severus. He watched with interest as the anonymous school owl buzzed the table and dropped the small parchment roll directly past Black and Potter’s grasping hands and into Lupin’s lap.

Soon, he’d pay the lying lion for toying with him.

+*+*+*~~~*+*+*+

“You came.” Lupin looked up from the book he was reading, his eyes traveling from Severus’ worn boot tips up his slightly-newer robes to meet Severus’ eyes.

“Yes, I did. Earlier than expected, I know, but I was nervous.” Lupin’s eyes shifted away only to flick back to Severus’ eyes and then down to his lips before looking back to his book.

Severus set down his satchel and sank down next to Lupin, almost uncomfortably so. He wriggled, making certain his hips and legs bumped Lupin’s “accidently” as he found a comfortable spot to sit. When Lupin’s knuckles began to lighten, Severus stopped squirming and pulled his own book out of the satchel.

“I wanted your opinion of this dueling form…” They spent two hours, shoulders rubbing, elbows knocking as they passed the book between them, pointing out flaws and then exemplary spell combinations. When the six o’clock bells rang, they looked at each other in shock.

“Oh, no! Supper’s in fifteen minutes! Get up, Snape! Hurry! I didn’t eat lunch.” Lupin scrambled to gather his quills, parchments, and several other things that had fallen out of his bag. He stood shuffling from one foot to another as Severus finished setting his satchel to rights.

When he stood up, Severus hid a smirk as he pulled on the robe he’d shrugged out of earlier. _It had gone so…easily,_ Severus thought as he stepped close enough to press a kiss to Lupin’s cheek. “Run along then, Lupin. I’ll get something in the Dungeons. Rosier will have something.” 

Severus had the satisfaction of watching Lupin walk away in a daze, one hand to his cheek. He couldn’t wait to break the fool’s heart for toying with his!

+*+*+*~~~*+*+*+

Over the next fortnight, Severus received several small gifts: A book on medieval duels. A half-dozen decent quills. A worn but serviceable amulet that held shrunken potions. A diagram of dueling forms from 1600 to 1900.

Each one had come with a torn parchment note, unsigned, but Severus knew the sender. The parchment was scented with a musky wildness that greatly appealed to Severus…an appeal he fought ferociously.

At least he did while he was conscious.

+*+*+*~~~*+*+*+

**That fateful night…**

 

“I hate you, you animal!” Severus stood in the middle of the Headmaster’s office, wrapped in a blanket. His face was so pale that the veins stood out in stark relief, the blood a greyish-blue. For once, his nose wasn’t noticeable since his eyes were big enough to swallow his face.

Lupin sat between Potter and Black, shivering like the proverbial leaf as Severus continued to spew invective and obscenity. The hateful words only stopped when the Headmaster came through the Floo and shook off the green powder from his robes.

“Remus, how could this have happened?” Dumbledore asked.

Potter stared at Black over Lupin’s shaking head, hard. “It was only a prank!” Black protested. “Moony wouldn’t hurt a fly!”

“I’m no bloody fly, you inbred imbecile! I’m a wizard!” Severus shouted. Dumbledore stared from Lupin to Severus, something infinitely sad in his gaze. Severus whispered, “I’m a bloody human.”

“Sorry, so sorry…so sorry…never hurt Severus…never…he’s…” Severus didn’t hear the rest of Lupin’s murmurs as Potter leaned forward and began talking.

“Headmaster, it wasn’t Remus’ fault. Sirius…” Potter looked older, less carefree and vindictive than before. “Sirius was a fool, sir. Remus wouldn’t have done anything if Sirius hadn’t sent Snape that damned note.”

+*+*+*~~~*+*+*+

**2010**

 

Severus pulled his head from the pensieve. He stared at the Potter in front of him, so different from his father in everything but his mature compassion.

“You kept these memories all these years, Potter. Why show them to me now?” Severus looked at Harry, his brows drawn into a puzzled frown. “I’ve lived without them for over twelve years. I haven’t missed them.” He turned away to look out on the tide rolling in.

“Because Remus remembers. Because he misses what you could have had.” Harry stepped closer to Severus’ chair, his hands holding out a torn piece of parchment with familiar handwriting on it. “Please read this. It’s really for you this time.” Harry left with a soft goodbye, setting the note on Severus’ small table.

Severus tried to ignore the damned parchment, the _possibility_ of what they could have had just taunting him from ten feet away. As the tide slowed, he stood up and strode toward the table.

+*+*+*~~~*+*+*+

“You came.”

“I was early, but I didn’t think it would bother you. Didn’t last time.” Remus sat on a sun-warmed boulder, more scars littering his hands but only one new one on his right cheek. _I shouldn’t be able to know how many scars he has,_ Severus chided himself.

“I have a new book, written for next year’s Dueling Club at Hogwarts. I was hoping you’d help me refine it and work out the exercises.” Remus’ eyes were warmer than the boulder, inviting Severus to sit at his side with just a quick glance.

“Budge over, Lupin. I’m too old to sit in the sand these days.” Severus conjured a cushion and sat next to Remus, their shoulders rubbing and their thighs and knees bumping. “Now, give me that book! I want to see just what you’ve bungled.”

Remus laughed as Severus worked his way through the book and then grew quiet as the sun slowly sank down into the sea.

“I’ve missed you, Severus.” Remus nudged Severus’ shoulder with his.

“I’ve…” Severus took a quick breath. “I’ve missed you, too.”

§¤§¤*§*¤§¤§ 

  


_~~~ Comments, like rain in the desert, are greatly appreciated.  
Thank you for reading. ~~~_  



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